Preschool Graduation

Miya and Cannon had their preschool graduation yesterday and they were super excited about it. They loved decorating their caps and practicing the songs they would be singing. Then the time came to put on the caps and Cannon was not happy. First he was not happy about using "girl hair clips" to keep his on (I even brought blue because I thought it might go over better). Second his hair is so short even the clips weren't holding his cap on so then he was mad that it kept coming off. Finally he was not happy about not getting to wear it all day. Luckily they got these really good granola bar/cookie things after the ceremony so his attention quickly shifted. Who said food is not a good bribe/solution to most problems, never had kids of their own!

Tagged

List 3...

*Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

Three Joys
1. Date nights! Anywhere, just get me a babysitter.
2. Beautiful sunny weather
3. Running in the mornings

Three Fears
1. Not getting enough sleep
2. The house when Phil is away in Portland for work
3. Not getting to go home to Driggs this summer

Three Goals
1. Getting all the lawns mowed today. (without to many tears from the kiddos)
2. Finishing the triathlon in August
3. Becoming more organized

Three current obsessions
1. iTunes- I love finding new great songs
2. Being outside in the warm sun
3. reading anything I can get my hands on that was written for someone under the age of 18

Three random surprising facts about me
1. I had a rather intense run of TPing houses with friends in high school. We had a backpack full of toilet paper for all of those spur of the moment jobs.
2. There were only 78 kids in my graduating class in high school. (I loved it)
3. I cannot draw a straight line.

*OKAY! Visitors new and old, if you've read this thing through, consider yourself tagged. Let me know in the comments if you've written your tag on your blog and I'll come check it out.

Finally on #3....

It took two practice kids, but I finally picked up on a few things.


1. 16-month-olds are actually great communicators, it is just in a language I don't really understand!
2. They want to be held, but only when you want them to play while you get something done and never at church during sacrament meeting.
3. The simplest dinners will get the most praise. (Thanks mom for this spaghetti, it is the best dinner I have ever had.)
4. Laundry is a NEVER ending cycle that the smallest one in the family seems to contribute the most to.
5. NOTHING sounds better than all of your kids laughing together! (That is just before the fighting begins all over again.)

My Boy & Dinosaurs

So Cannon has been totally interesting in dinosaurs for a long time...not really playing with them, but more learning about them. Target has come out with some cute boy t-shirts that have different dinosaurs and little funny facts about them. He would wear one of these shirts everyday, but we only have two and he gets them super dirty (plus I am just not that up on laundry) so it only ends up as about every other day.

Today I took the kids to the library to get some books and you would never guess the one book that Cannon was totally excited about. I even tried talking him into getting a few books, but he just said, "but I will only ever want to read this one right now."

Park

What is it about the park that just makes kids happy? It doesn't seem to matter what you have to play with in the yard, the park will always beat it. We went the other evening and the kids loved it. The weather here has not been that great so it has been awhile since we last went to the park and the kids were in heaven. Lyla loved the slides and Miya was pretty excited about the hanging bars and the other little girl playing there. I am glad someone figured this whole park thing out a LONG time ago so I can now take my kids. They think I am super great just for walking them to the park. (this I can handle)

Living In "Between"

So this last weekend we were up in Seattle Friday night at the Seattle Stake 70th Anv. with Elder Ballard. Phil's dad sang and I almost got to shake Elder Ballard's hand (people kept cutting me off), but it was amazing to be in the same small chapel. I got to see great old friends and people from the Stake that I totally miss. Then on Saturday we were up working all day and finally finished the house.

It has been a crazy six months since we moved down here and have been going back and forth each weekend. Each time I leave Seattle at the end of the day I find myself feeling sad. Sad at leaving a place and people that still feel like home. I think it will be good to get things wrapped up there and be living and playing with new friends here in Lakewood. We really like so many wonderful people in our new ward and are excited at getting to know then better now that we are not so busy.

I guess there are those moments that I totally appreciate the church, not just for the truths of the Gospel, but for the strength of the organization and friendships made by serving each other. It is great to have a network of friends with common goals and ideals even in a new place.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Lyla kept herself entertained while we worked by taking pictures of herself.

Miya took pictures of Cannon in the backyard.

Trying to get a family picture for Miya, but Phil didn't make it in the shot and I look like I might kill someone if they say the wrong thing.

Phil looks like he is using his best dance pose and any ballet teacher would be proud of his feet position.